Space

After a pair of delays, SpaceX, the space transport company based in Hawthorne, California, successfully launched their Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, propelling the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) deeper into space than the company had ever ventured before.

It’s been a mission in progress for 10 years for the European Space Agency, and scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena are among those watching keenly as the first-of-its-kind objective prepares to reach its apex.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the possible role pilot error may have had in the mid-flight failure and crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on Friday.

While most of the public, including observers, space enthusiasts and environmentalists, will see the launch as the largest effort to study climate change in human history, NASA will see the launch, set for 2:58 a.m. Tuesday, as a realization of redemption.

An exhibition that launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour into a long-range educational program to inspire future generations of explorers starts October 30, 2012. Endeavour was built as a replacement for space shuttle Challenger – it […]